Are you a billionaire searching for an elegant stay in New York? Well, you're in luck. The first-ever Baccarat Hotel has officially opened in New York.

The hotel’s Grand Salon, Petit Salon, Bar and guest rooms opened on Wednesday (about two weeks behind schedule) while the Chevalier Restaurant and the Spa de La Mer, the first of its kind in North America (and as in the Creme de la Mer moisturizer celebrities swear by) set to open in the near future.

Classic king rooms are still open this weekend and are going for $729 a night, with Grand king rooms for $844 a night while the 850-sq.ft. Prestige Suite is about $2,379 a night.

You can read more about what's inside these luxe hotel rooms here but if you have to ask what $729 a night will get you, then obviously you don't belong here. #kidding #kinda

The cheery artwork in this guest room is a great "pick me up" after a long day of travel, or just a long day

For several years counting, the Scandinavian countries have shared "top ten" honors among the happiest places on earth. It’s an interesting strategy for hotel expansion, and perhaps IHG (in partnership with Restel Limited) see it this way as they introduce Hotel Indigo to the Nordic region with Hotel Indigo Helsinki - Boulevard.

At least that has now changed, and with a website come a few more renderings and the ability to make reservations from March 31 (opening is listed for March 23, though). That takes us right into the heart of sakura season, and the rates are… high. A Superior Room starts at JPY72,000; though with the weaker yen that now translates to about $600 rather than the $720 you’d previously be looking at.

If you want the additional experience of this lovely outdoor deck / garden with wooden bathtub, you’ll have to stump for a Deluxe Room, which will ring up another JPY10,000 ($82). A look at the interior of a room below.

Another day, another Paris opening. This time it’s the turn of the Grand Pigalle, opening in SoPi, or South Pigalle, just off Avenue Frochot, where Toulouse Lautrec once lived.

The brainchild of three friends who run L'Experimental Group of cocktails and restaurants, this is a place to have fun – the website alone talks about the “hedonism like no other” of the city, and promises “liveliness over nostalgia” for the rooms. Their ideal guest? The “cultivated traveler, who knows that the elegance of a sojourn is as much about respect for a cosmopolitan savoir-vivre as it is for the discovery of strong local cultures.” Not quite sure we're cool enough. Et vous?

The time has come. Soho House Istanbul ever so quietly opened last week! There’s a gorgeous new website, with some incredible photos.

The rooms are booking up fast - though there's been no official announcement yet, we called yesterday to be told that this weekend was fully sold out. The first date they had available was Sunday – 22 March. For non-members, the starting rate is €200 + 8% tax. That’s a March special offer, for one of the small rooms – they won’t guarantee a room type until check in, but it could be a Tiny, Small or Small Plus room. (Rates for members are lower – they start at €150.)

The historic Venetian Gothic tower, first built in 1893, has been under major restoration and renovation for the past two years We first profiled the plans for the building back in 2013 when contributor Nina K. Hahn peeked at what Harstone Plunkard Architecture and Roman and Williams had in mind for the place, as well as snapping what the spot looked like before it went under the knife.

Yet throughout the renovation process, the teams have kept much of the building’s 19th architectural elements such as the bas-relief woodcarvings on the fireplaces, stained glass windows and marble staircases.

Keep reading for a look at how the building used to be and for a sneak peek at the all-new guest rooms!

Remember when we talked about Ahn Luh Resorts & Residences, a new Chinese luxury hotel brand that, among others, has Adrian Zecha of Aman Resorts behind it? That’s well over two years ago, but it looks like there will soon be something tangible to look at and try out the “essence of Old World Chinese hospitality in today’s context of contemporary elegance” that Ahn Luh is hoping to bring to us.

Here is what you need to know: there are six hotels in the pipeline, all in China for now, but international expansion is part of the plans. First up, with an opening this year, is Ahn Luh Zhujiajiao in Shanghai (above), in a historic suburb of Shanghai. The brand’s flagship Ahn Luh Thousand Island Lake will open next year, as well as Ahn Luh Lanting in Shaoxing, Ahn Luh Dujiangyan, and Ahn Luh Yanming Lake. A beach resort at Xunliao Bay (near Hong Kong) will arrive in 2017, while Ahn Luh Yichun will open in 2018 in an area known as “the natural oxygen bar”, with the world’s largest Korean pine primeval forest and an annual average temperature of 1C (34F). More details and some very cool renderings below.

We said last week that Amsterdam was having a hotel moment, and the race between two of its biggest arrivals this year, only a few minutes’ walk between them, is officially on. The Hoxton was first with a select few photos of some its very handsome rooms projected for “summer” this year. The W countered with a slew of renderings and a “September” opening.

Both have been withholding reservations so far, but The Hoxton has gone out and put the countdown right on its website, with now less than 50 days until bookings open. In fact, unless our math is way off, reservations should open on April 1. We’ll assume that’s not a joke, and further assume that The Hoxton will open first and at cheaper rates, unless the W pulls a rabbit out of a hat (on the rates front, we don’t think that will ever happen).

Paris is in the throes of a hotel building boom with new smaller properties opening up as well as some pretty major overhauls going on. With all this activity, we’d hope to see some reasonable prices in there, but that doesn’t seem to be the case with only one or two exceptions.

The new Meliá Paris La Défense, open for only ten days, may just be the answer if you’re looking for a nicely designed hotel at a good rate. The catch, though, is that it’s not in the epicenter of Paris’s museum and historical area but, rather, in the heart of the city's business district. If you’re in the city for business this is, of course, rather perfect but if you’re a plucky pleasure traveler the metro is oh-so-close, meaning right across the street from the hotel.

The hotel is a biggie (in fact it’s the largest four-star to open in the French capital in ten years) with 369 rooms and suites spread out over 18 floors (on the 19th floor is the fitness center and Skyline Lounge). Designed in the shape of a sail by Vasconi Architects in partnership with French interior designer Jean-Philippe Nuel, the brainchild behind the high-profile revamp of Paris’s iconic Molitor Swimming Pool, the hotel gives you a bird’s eye view over Paris.

Inside will be 21 rooms, two studio suites, and a rooftop apartment with terrace and “al fresco bath”. Bedrooms are “awash with artefacts from Uncle Seymour’s days as a loveable rogue and gambler” (if you recall, the hotel is on Seymour Street, and the hotel draws on the character of Wicked Uncle Seymour for inspiration). Quirky definitely comes to mind when looking at the first images above and below.

Well there was a long, excited overture since we first heard about it, but now the curtain is up: welcome to Act I at the Aria Budapest, which opened yesterday.

The music-themed hotel is certainly keeping in time with social media – it’s already posted an entire Facebook album of opening pics. They’re mainly of people looking welcoming, but you can glean a few things from looking over their shoulders. Here are a few new glimpses: